COVID Critter – 4th of July Extra

My new book, Llewellyn’s Little Book of Dragons, is now available to be preordered either from Llewellyn or Amazon. A delightfully scaly hardcover book full of Dragon tips, lore, and even a couple of brand-new Dragon tales. It will be officially our February 8th – a perfect Valentine’s present for the dracophile near and dear to your heart.

And for those of you looking for something draconic for this year’s Yule, Dragons for Beginners is available now.

As I say around Dragons Nest, a little Dragon under the Yule tree or Chanukah bush is always better than a big Dragon sending needles and branches up in flames.

(Next project: a Dragon Tarot. But more on that in the months to come.)

Beyond and Between – Samhain and Dragons in the Mist

31 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in Celebration, Dark Times, Dragon Keepers, Dragons, Halloween, Month of the Dragon, Samhain, WAFDE

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Dark Times, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, fesitvals, Halloween, holidays, Month of the Dragon, Samhain, WAFDE

Month of the Dragon has come to a close. A hearty roar of appreciation to all who have participated. And a draconic welcome to all our new WAFDE members! Hope everyone had a spikey-wikey, rip-snorting time.

The harvest is in. Pumpkins – and turnips – are carved, costumes pressed, and cider spiked. All is in readiness for tonight.

Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Most Dragons prefer the ancient name, Samhain. This has always been a liminal time – a day when the misty barrier between the spiritual and the corporeal worlds thins and the inhabitants of each can come and go at will.

If you are up on your Dragon history you know this is a very special day for Dragons, especially among the Westie Weyrs. It is a solemn time of both remembrance and hope. A day to honor ancient sorrows and proffered sanctuary, ancestors lost and triumphant returns.

shadowbeast if the frozen wastes- hibbary

I am speaking, of course, of events that date back to the Dark Times of Dragon persecution. When Dragon-slaying was not only the “sport” du jour but also the surest way for would-be heroes, saints, and princelings to claim their bona fides. The Weyrs of Europe were decimated and anti-Dragon sentiments even inched their way east along the Silk Road.

Some Dragons flew west to the New World (Trans-Atlantic Transmigration), and some stayed and fought. But most Westies chose the better part of valor, discreetly taking the Sidhe up on their offer to dwell in the Otherworld until humans regained their sanity. In short, they faded into the mists. And – Surprise! – after many centuries, things in the physical realm did improve. Yet, while some of our friends chose to return to this world, other more cautious Dragons, did not.

So it is that Samhain takes on a certain long-distance family-reunion quality, with flights between planes and all-nighter confabs. There is music and dancing and visiting old haunts. There is catching up with the grand-dragonlets and telling of tales of past lives and future dreams. Some Dragons even seek out the relatives of Dragon-friendly humans they once knew.

It is a magical time for all concerned.But, come morning, the magic fades. The barrier between worlds returns and mist is again just mist until next year. giphy1

For now, we here at the Nest wish you all a very Happy Samhain. May your harvest be bountiful and the coming year warm with Dragon-fire and fast friends.

Happy Holidays!

25 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in Chanukah, Christmas, Dragons, Holidays

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Chanukah, Dragons, holidays, New Years Day, Yule

Wishing one and all very festive holidays!

Happy Chanukah!

Merry Yule!

And may we all beat the odds and have a sane & peaceful 2017.

Time, Memory, and Dragons….

23 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in Celebration, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Family, Holidays, Memory, Thanksgiving, Time

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Family, holidays, Julio Cortazar, May Sarton, Memory, Thanksgiving, Time, Time Travel, William Faulkner, Writing

The holiday season is upon us. When family gathers together to break bread, knock heads, and mark the candlelit passage of time with mulled wine before the fire.

In honor of the season and memory of sweet scents and good company, a few words from pens wiser than my own.

“But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs and adjectives in a speech, sneaking in behind the thing itself, into the pure present, making us sad or teaching us vicariously…”
― Julio Cortázar, Hopscotch

“Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember nothing stays the same for long, not even pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”
― May Sarton

“…I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire…I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.”
― Faulkner, The Sound & The Fury

From all of us at the Nest, wishes to you for a peaceful and memorable Thanksgiving.

Confabulation of Dragons – Scott Gustafson

Dragons in the Mist….

31 Saturday Oct 2015

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in 2015, Dark Times, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Holidays, Month of the Dragon, Samhain, WAFDE

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Chocolate, Dark Times, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragonlets, Dragons, Fairy, Ghost Dragons, Habanero Peppers, Halloween, holidays, Month of the Dragon, Pumpkins, Samhain, Sugar Rush, WAFDE

Halloween Dragons – Sixth Leaf Clover

Happy Samhain one and all!

The harvest is over and now the world tips into its darker half. It is also the Night of the Dead – when the barrier between this world and the Otherworld thins and can be crossed. Ghosts, goblins, elves, et al, walk abroad, welcomed by some, feared by others.

And then there are Dragons. For Dragons, Samhain is a time to celebrate their return to the world of humans after centuries of self-imposed exile among the Fae.

Firefly hunting in silent dragon woods – Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Dragons, of course, do nothing by halves. When they came back to us, they did it with a snort and a roar and a lively dance round Samhain baelfires. That we were having our own seasonal fun proves a bonus for all.

Of course, tonight has its somber elements, too. It is a time to feel the presence of those no longer with us, to honor their lives and their absence. Having lost so many of their kind during the Dark Times, Dragons are particularly cognizant of this.

You should hardly be surprised if you cross paths this evening with an enchantment of ghostly Lombard Leatherwings or skeletal Kiev Shinglebacks.

If you are so blessed, do not scream or run about. Simply bow every so politely and continue on your way.

One word of caution: If any Dragonlets are among your trick-or-treaters, do be careful not to give them too much sugar. As with children, it has a tendency to make them bounce off walls and that can create obvious problems.

One treat we’ve found to be a huge hit around the Nest is Chocolate Habanero peppers dipped in a glaze of pumpkin and Mexican chocolate. The mix of heat and just a little sweet is enjoyed by Dragons of all ages and keeps sugar-rush mayhem to a minimum.

Wishing one and all a wondrous Samhain. And to everyone at WAFDE and dracophiles the world over, our fiercest thanks for making this Fifth Month of the Dragon so memorable. May the Great Dragon smile upon you all.

Month of the Dragon Approaches…

26 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragon Keepers, Dragon Tales, Month of the Dragon, Myth and Lore, WAFDE

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, fesitvals, holidays, Month of the Dragon, October, WAFDE

The air is changing – a bit of a nip, sweet smell of windfalls. October is almost here, and that means we’re gearing up for WAFDE’s Fifth Annual Month of the Dragon!

Our calendar is open and flexible and we welcome participation both here at the Dragon’s Nest and on the WAFDE page on Facebook. The more the merrier.

Hope you will join us for draconic discussions, stories, fun & games, and even the chance at a free signed copy of a dragon book or two….

See you all next week!

Questing Beast III: The Performing Arts – Pounding the Cultural Boards

04 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in Art, Cultural Literacy, Dance, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Films, Music, Theatre

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Cultural Literacy, Dance, Films, holidays, Movies, Music, Nureyev, PBS, Pete Seeger, Test, The Globe, Theatre

this-machine-surrounds-hate-and-forces-it-to-surrender

Pete Seeger

Music, theatre, movies, dance – the performing arts intersect out lives daily. We turn on the radio, catch a matinee at the local Cineplex or on TV.

The Globe Theatre

Live dance and theatre may elude many outside of metropolitan areas, but thank goodness for PBS and cable.

So…today I give you a list of 40 people. Some familiar, some less so. They are associated with

a) Dance
b) Theatre
c) Music
d) Film

Rudolph Nureyev

Mix, match, and have fun!

Agnes de Mille
Alvin Ailey
Bessie Smith
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Charles Mingus
David Gilmour
Feodor Chaliapin
Francois Truffaut
George Balanchine
George Roy Hill
Harold Prince
Jane Campion
Jean Rosenthal
Jose Limon
Joseph Papp
Julie Taymor
Katherine Dunham
Lee Strasberg
Louis Malle
Ma Rainey
Charlie Chaplin behind the camera
Marie Petipa
Merce Cunningham
Michael Kidd
Milos Forman
Nadia Boulanger
Patti Smith
Pedro Almodovar
Peter Brook
Philidor
Ray Manzarek
Robert Altman
Ruth St. Denis
Santo Loquasto
Savion Glover
Sergei Diaghilev
Susan Stroman
Trevor Nunn
Tyrone Guthrie
Werner Herzog
Yehudi Menuhin

Since many of us are in the midst of chocolate bunny/matzo frenzy, I wish one and all happy holidays and will post the answers on Tuesday.

Questing Beast II: Literary Answers….

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Shawn MacKENZIE in Books, Cultural Literacy, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Fiction, Literature, Novelists, Playwrights, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Answers. Passover, Books, Cultural Literacy, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Drama, Fiction, holidays, Playwrights, Test, Writing

Into April and still frosty here in the northeast. I think the weather gods are taking Mark Twain’s words too much to heart and passing the buck to their subordinates.

I reverently believe that the maker who made us all makes everything in New England, but the weather. I don’t know who makes that, but I think it must be raw apprentices in the weather-clerks factory who experiment and learn how, in
New England, for board and clothes, and then are promoted to make weather for countries that require a good article, and will take their custom elsewhere if they don’t get it.

But all that doesn’t keep me from providing the answers to Tuesday’s literary quiz.

Group I:

Samuel Beckett …h) Waiting for Godot
John Irving …d) The Hotel New Hampshire
Lillian Hellman …f) Little Foxes
Stephen R. Donaldson …j) Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Virginia Woolf …g) To the Lighthouse
Henry James …i) The Europeans
Anton Chekhov …a) The Seagull
Richard Adams …b) Watership Down
Alice Walker …c) The Color Purple
E.M.Forster …e) Howards End

Samuel Beckett

Group II:

Ursula K. Le Guin …c) The Lathe of Heaven
Edward Albee …e) A Delicate Balance
Samuel Butler …g) Erewhon
Wendy Wasserstein …a) The Sisters Rosensweig
Carson McCullers …h) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Bertolt Brecht …b) Mother Courage & Her Children
Edith Wharton …j) House of Mirth
George Eliot …i) The Mill on the Floss
D.H.Lawrence …d) The Rainbow
Luigi Pirandello …f) Six Characters in Search of an Author

Ursula K. Le Guin

Group III:

Thomas Middleton …f) Women Beware Women
Mikhail Bulgakov …i) The Master & the Margarita
Murasaki Shikibu …h) The Tale of Genji
Jean Anouilh … d) Thieves’ Carnival
Flannery O’Connor … b) Everything That Rises Must Converge
Michael Ondaatje …a) The English Patient
Brendan Behan …c) The Hostage
Isabel Allende …j) House of the Spirits
Jean Racine …e) Phèdre
James Baldwin …g) Giovanni’s Room

Thomas Middleton

How did everyone do?

Now, tomorrow I will be cooking for our seder, so nothing new until Saturday. Then we will begin questing through the forest of the performing arts – dance, music, theatre, and film. (I know, film falls into a grey area – part visual, part performance – but I relish the grey.)

Happy Pesach.